Venue: Klub glasbe Jazzy / Postojna / Slovenia
Gig date: 08.02.2008
Attendance: 160
Ticket price: 0,00€
“Lady’s first” helper. Lady’s opener? With a little imagination, perfectly compatible roles. Ah, you windbag! Let’s just stick with helper. Tonight we’d better not get into the details. Lady’s First in Postojna, diagnosed as a “quartet” (even if that sounds indecent toward the ailing Aaron, respect), just picked up one more reason why you absolutely have to go see them. Besides Lady’s First themselves, there are quite a few other reasons. The pleasant atmosphere at Postojna’s Jazzy, where RockLine hadn’t put in any real effort until now beyond doing the interview with the legendary former Iron Maiden “softie” Paul Di’Anno last summer, finally got its first-ever chance to cover a music event in this utterly charming club. Lots of people there that you’re delighted to greet and glad to know.
I showed up late on purpose, and of course still not late enough. I blew in around 10:30 PM. Backstage the Lady’s First guys are in great spirits and seem totally unworried that tonight Buco has to step into Aaron’s role and switch from guitar to bass. The mood is fun, the guys are running at 100 miles an hour. Flešo smears a fistful of hair gel into Guzi’s hair and builds him a proper Indian feather headdress as the guys head out to the stage!
High Machine opens the show, as expected! There are loads of people, many more than at the end of January at Kotlovnica in Kamnik, though they’re cautiously keeping a two-meter distance from the stage, diligently sipping their drinks. Miško is handling the sound. At first listen Buco has really done his homework, the way you’re supposed to: a proper trooper, no big deal. The fantastically galloping opener High Machine was followed by (interesting choice!) a metalized I Want To Break Free (Queen), then Black Sabbath ironware with Paranoid, and the first set rolled along in a similar vein to Kamnik. The Trooper got dropped, but Fear Of The Dark replaced it in the second half of the show. For its intro the tireless soloist Youwda and Buco planted themselves facing each other, only this time there were no guitar harmonies. Still, the sound was full and meaty. Maybe that’s where Guzi’s problem came from: a few times he couldn’t hear himself sing, because Youwda’s guitar was roaring and snarling off the stage extra loud tonight! Well, there was only one guitar this time. Let it at least deliver the way it’s supposed to, right?
Lady’s First of course chopped out the excellent Criminal and LF (from their own material) and set the crowd on fire with covers of Speed (Billy Idol), Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden) and Creeping Death (Metallica), which closed the first half. The special treat of the first half? The Partibrejkers song Kreni prema meni, on stage with former Outsider singer Miško. A nice dedication from the band to the guy as a thank-you for taking care of every detail so that not one single hair on Lady’s First’s heads got bent in Postojna tonight. The guys could feel that the energy the Postojna crowd was giving off this time was way bigger than, say, at Kotlovnica in Kamnik. Atmosphere-wise, the gig was a few steps higher. Overall Guzi was in great form on vocals this time, while Buco every now and then gritted his teeth hard and shook out his hand. The bass is still a hard, merciless beast, even though Yamaha basses (the brand our Buco used tonight) supposedly have a somewhat softer touch (at least that’s said about their guitars) compared to the rest of the “big-brand” bass gang!
The long break of course served for healing the scrapes that close encounters with heavy steel can cause. The band fires up the second half with 911, adds The Game from their own songs, and then the first offering of the second half! Aaron jumps in from the crowd to help out, replacing Buco on bass for the song Prazna cesta. A ballad for which even Aaron’s doctor would turn a blind eye, while Buco had already vanished backstage, probably cooling his hand. Of course the guys used that moment for a good prank. There was just no getting Buco out of the crowd to take over as bassist again when the song ended. Well, in the end he had to, naturally. Anyway, hats off to the guys! Aaron’s gesture shows that this quintet really breathes for each other. Fear Of The Dark (Iron Maiden) and Enter Sandman (Metallica) from the harder-hitting menu, and what was left for the rockers? Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses), Motori (Divlje Jagode), Walking By Myself (Gary Moore), Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf),… cheering late into the night a crowd that was (interestingly!) rather reserved, even though, given how close the Slovenian Littoral is, you’d think they’d have blood a few degrees warmer running through their veins than, say, the folks from Kamnik.
Despite being weakened on bass and short one guitar, the guys cruised through their Postojna show with total confidence. That’s experience for you! Youwda, this time the only guitarist, confidently dribbled out the solos, and the bass was loud enough to fill out the background effectively. Flešo once again drove the band’s undercarriage with his drum-torpedoing, and Guzi, as mentioned, was in great spirits as the frontman all show long. Nothing to add. The crowd was happy, and Lady’s First’s steel glowed bright once more under the band’s nobly tuned notes.
The evening, which was leaning heavily into early morning, I of course spent over one more beer and a chat with the cooling-down Lady’s First heads backstage. The guys never run out of ideas for cracking juicy jokes. It’s hard to say goodbye, since a long night at a party in Notranje Gorice is still waiting for me. In short: thanks Lady’s First for a fantastic evening, thanks also to Miško for the invite, and of course to the Jazzy bosses for taking such good care of such a lovely club in Postojna! We’ll be back many more times. And let’s wish Aaron a speedy recovery!
text and photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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